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Local Development Plan 2021

Over the course of the next few years the council will be developing a new Local Development Plan (LDP). Once in every 5 years the council is required to publish a new plan for the area, excluding the Cairngorms National Park. This is to inform and advise developers and communities on the principles that built development should follow and where it should be located.

Every year, in January, we publish a Development Plan Scheme which sets out the programme for the delivery of the Local Development Plan.

We have started the preparation of a new LDP to be delivered in 2021 based on the current legislation however the Scottish Government is currently engaged in a review of the planning system. This will result in new legislation so the current local development planning process might change.

Preparation of the plan

There are 4 stages of the local development planning process. Each stage has substantial information produced to justify council's position:

Stage 1 - current stage

An early action in producing a Local Development Plan is to publish and consult on Main Issues Report (MIR). This was published on 14 January 2019.

Stage 2

We use submissions from the Main Issues Report consultation to help us prepare a Proposed Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan which is likely to be published in late 2019.

Stage 3

We have to collect submissions to this proposed plan and deliver them to Scottish Government Ministers. The ministers are likely to appoint a member of their staff (a reporter) from the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) to conduct a public examination of any objections. The decision to undertake an examination will probably take place in mid 2020.

Stage 4

After the examination and the reporter's conclusion on any objections received, the council needs to consider the DPEA recommendations. The finalised Local Development Plan that we wish to adopt is hten proposed to Scottish Ministers. This is likely to be in 2021.